The Thurmond Depot is located along the New River in Fayette County West Virginia and is one of the most famous stations on the C&O Railroad.
It was built in 1900 as passenger station and also served as offices of the C&O Railroad workers. Thurmond was one of the two major shipping points for coal in the New River Gorge area. By the early 1900’s hundreds of coal cars passed through Thurmond daily. It is said in 1910 that 76, 541 passengers bordered the trains in Thurmond and 4,283,641 tons of freight were shipped, which was about one-fifth of the revenue for the entire C&O railroad that year. Now owned by the National Parks Service for the New River Gorge National River, it serves as the park service visitor center and “flagstop” for Amtrak Trains. The depot was restored in1995 with authentic fixtures, furniture, and equipment from the early 1900’s. The depot, plus the entire town of Thurmond, is listed in the National Register of Historical Places. |
